Science Fiction (Stanbrough)

Could you mine the bones of your own ancestors? And if so, at what cost? In the early 22nd century, the Earth is governed by the World Equality Organization (WEO). Like all corrupt governments, they not-so subliminally plant imagined problems for the citizenry, then parlay the citizens' fear into power. The Jewish people, who for centuries have been considered "God's Chosen," are seen as a barrier to true equality. To illustrate their devotion to equality, the Justices deem Israel a non-entity and toss it to the Arab nations for partitioning. And the Arab nations promptly go to war against each other. In the meantime, the WEO institutes a program for the "registration, relocation and reunification" of all Jews. The program comes complete with the promise, "If you like where you live, you can stay where you live." They even establish the first expansive lunar colony, ostensibly as a new Jewish homeland. Soon the WEO begins a massive purge, during which Jews are rounded up and relocated forcibly-into mass graves. However, many people around the world see what's coming and act to save as many Jewish children as possible, raising them as their own. One of those children is the eight-year-old Jonathan Kirski. He is raised by a quiet German couple and has a fairly good early life. But he can never shake the stigma that his parents gave him away. Even when he understands why, he is bitter that he was not allowed to stand and die as a proud Jew, as his parents had always taught him. Now the lunar colony needs an extract from human bones to sustain its construction. Jonathan attends the Interplanetary Mining Academy. He ranks high enough in his class to choose any assignment he wants. And as a kind of combination punishment and penance for not being good enough to stand alongside his father, he chooses to spend his life mining the bones of his own people in the mass graves in Siberia. Unlike those buried in other mass graves around the world-from arid deserts to perenially moist tropical climes-in Sibera the bodies are practically flash frozen, so the faces are always there. Jonathan was prepared to do what he had to do. Are you?

Adolph Hitler, terrible as he was, was nothing but a pawn. One in a series of strings tugged by a puppeteer. Hitler was vanquished, but the entity that gave him rise never went away. Two centuries and two decades after the rise of Hitler, the same entity is still pulling strings. And he's almost accomplished the goal of his father and grandfathers before him.

On Earth in the not-too-distant future, Will Perkins looks at Luna almost every evening. He dreams of visiting there, living there, someday. Finally, almost through a fluke, he realizes his dream. He and his wife Rose will live in the well-established Arzachel 1 crater colony while he works as part of a crew to build Arzachel 2. But nothing ever goes quite as planned, does it? Even as Will and Rose's lives are changing, so is the face of reality, as they know it. What causes the earthquake-like vibrations that tremor regularly through Arzachel 1? There are rumors of an alien force staging a planned invasion of Earth. But human nature tends to ignore feelings of dread rather than face them head on.

On future Earth, there are only six nations. They are governed, loosely, by a compendium of delegates, one from each nation, to the World Dominion. But among any six humans, there is always one who wants to be dominant. When that one, by happenstance, is contacted by extra-terrestrials who believes him to be the ruler of Earth, he is not inclined to correct them. Instead, as a response to their request to colonize, he levies certain requirements. He can fulfill the requirements himself. But they must wait until he has fulfilled those requirements, most of which involve the other five nations naming him Chancellor of Earth. His initial request, posed by his delegate to the World Dominion, causes great upheaval. So great, in fact, nobody is certain they can turn it off. But he isn't the only one who can contact aliens. And he isn't the only one who can grant their request. In the final analysis, given one more chance, will the World Dominion come to a consensus?

In this "they come here" SF novel, the Solgren, intra-galactic colonists from another planet, have their eye, and their man, on Earth. The Solgrens are ethereal beings who have long since forgotten the burden and the pleasures of being confined in a physical body. They are entralled with humans' ability to focus the physical, the mental and the emotional on one project at one time. Earth might just be a perfect new home. Simon Stark has donned a brand new human suit, and he's found it fits him better than he might ever have expected. As the one great hope of the Selgron Council of Elders, will he accomplish what they put him on Earth to do, or will his humanity overtake him? And if it does, what then? Destroy the planet and move on, or opt for Plan B?

The basis of life as we know it is carbon. Suppose the nucleus of every carbon atom is a sun. Suppose one electron "planet" swirling around that nucleus supports life. And suppose a group of scientists theorize that, like space, time is a maleable factor in the universe. And that even the term "universe" depends strictly on the vantage point. In the future on Earth, with Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle disproven and set aside, the way is clear to test the Theorum of Interspatial Travel Through Miniaturization and Recovery (ITTMAR). Due to a simple mathematical error, the first trip ends in tragedy. But now, years later, Adam Stanton is ready to pick up where the first Traveler left off. The console in the Travel Lab is set for a round trip of only 15 minutes. During that 15 minutes, Adam Stanton will spend 3 years on a sub-atomic planet. One second on Earth equals 1.2 days on Tremer. Five minutes equals a year. He will study the flora, the fauna, the geology and the people. And he will be retrieved. The Guide's calculations are precise, so the trip should be routine. But it isn't. It's far from routine.